2017 Ford Escape

Ford on 12/4/25, diagnosed there is a coolant leak into the engine from the spark plugs, coolant was low when towed in and had rough idle. I know there is a class action suit against ford right now for this very problem with the 1.5, 1.6, and 2.0 engines. The vehicle started overheating and check engine light came on. Started showing about a week ago

Passed a truck and when I looked in the mirror I noticed blue smoke. As I was returning home noticed a lack of power and then check engine light came on. Was missing out on cylinder #2, so replaced plugs. Ran ok for a bit but started missing again and check engine light came back on. Called the Ford dealership and had it towed to them. Was told it needed a new engine because coolant had entered the cylinders. This happed on 10/28/25. took to dealer on 11/13/25. This car has only 27000 miles on it, Ford knows they have a design flaw with this motor.

While driving my 2017 Ford Escape, which only has 75k miles on it, a red warning light came on indicating an engine problem and to pull over safely. I was at a red light at a busy intersection when this happened. When it turned green I started driving trying to get into a parking lot safely. My car sputtered and stopped. Luckily I was able to get it into the parking lot. It turns out, after going to the Ford dealership, that it needs a new short block engine due to coolant intrusion, which is a now known design flaw. There was a CSP (recall) 21N12 for this issue for Ford Escapes built at the Louisville, KY plant. My car was built there, and meets/met all the requirements of the CSP, but for some reason was not included in the CSP. I am not sure why. I have reached out to Ford, but they are doing nothing to assist. How has there been nothing else regarding this issue? It is a known design flaw, and Ford isn't being held accountable for it. There are so many people that are affected by this and having to pay up to $10,000 out of pocket for a repair that Ford should be covering!

I began receiving a notification labeled "Engine fault, service now" a few weeks prior to the incident. I took my car to a mechanic and everything checked out fine, so the code was cleared and did not return. A few weeks later, I was changing my oil and noticed my engine coolant appeared extremely low. I also noticed a wet spot under my car under the coolant chamber side. I refilled the coolant, drove 5 minutes home, and then noticed it was once again empty. I then had my engine light come on. I took my car to Ford that night. The next day they called and informed me I had an internal coolant leak that had seized my spark plugs and destroyed my engine. This is a known issue, extremely common, and yet they refuse to do a recall on it and could provide me no help. I was quoted $16,000 for the repair (far more than the car is worth) and essentially just ended up having to buy a new car. The Ford will have to be scrapped for a few hundred dollars despite only being 8 years old with only 98,000 miles on it. I have records of my ownership and a written diagnostic report from Ford. From Ford: "Observed coolant intrusion into cylinder #2. Recommend replacement of the long block at this time. Coolant intrusion into long block at this time. Found the engine assembly has an internal coolant leak." Additionally, Ford has posted a service bulletin with recommended repair instructions for this known issue. The bulletin number is 9-2139 from 2019. There is also an active class action lawsuit against Ford being run by Kershaw Talley Barlow for this issue.

The engine failed due to coolant leaking into the cylinders. Sarasota Ford confirmed that coolant intrusion caused internal engine damage and the engine could not be repaired. The vehicle was purchased only 18 months ago and has been maintained per manufacturer guidelines. This appears to match a known Ford issue that has affected multiple Ford Escape model years involving coolant intrusion, rough running, stalling, and eventual engine failure. The repair required a full engine replacement at a cost of $9,850.20, which we have already paid. I am requesting NHTSA review this defect pattern as it creates safety risks and significant financial impact for owners.

An “engine fault check engine now” Came up. We quickly brought our 2017 Ford escape into our near by Ford dealership. Mechanic says a P2601 code came up, which is related to coolant to Aux pump performance. They found reservoir leaking a reservoir spiderd hose down to oil cooler. Found coolant reservoir leaking. I have this diagnostic in writing. ford wanted to charge $1088 to fix the issue and said once thats paid they would look further. We didn’t have close to that amount of money so we went to another near by mechanic, they looked into issue and found the coolant had been leaking into the engine and sent photos, and thats when we realized we needed an engine replacement. We have always taken care of our cars and we should not be having to pay for a brand new engine! The mechanic at the other smaller shop we took car to was actually a prior ford mechanic but left them and says he had seen this issue with this year and model many times! And it was due to a bad engine build that they since corrected for newer cars. So the people who bought a car with that year and model just got screwed. We are now having to take my 5 year old grand daughter to school on a bike and carriage situation, hoping it doesn’t get to cold or rainy. Not to mention our transmission had to be re built “just out of warranty” so ford was no help once again. We looked it up and the transmission going out just out of warranty was also a recurring issue for this year and model. So really we feel we spent 30,000 to 35,000 on a dud car. We feel not taken care of in the slightest by ford. Also my son has a Ford F-150 and the transmission went out that would cost 5000 to 9000. This truck was gently driven and still had low miles. It should not need such a drastic replacement! We found that this transmission issue was also a recurring issue on that year and model truck and we had no help with it. So we have two ford vehicles now that we poured so much money into that we can’t use.

My check engine light came on. So I decided to get a code reading from auto zone. Once code scan I received error code p0303. I then decided to replace all coils and spark plugs, then the check engine light goes out for a couple of days. I decided to take to a local shop they tell me a hose was loose and if the check engine light comes back bring it back…. I thought to myself that's why I came the first time, I then decided to take to ford. They do the diagnostic and say I have to replace engine because of coolant intrusion. I would need a long block and would cost around 8000 to fix. The reason I am sending this is because I believe that Ford should be held accountable for this known flaw in the design of the ecoboost engine. Many people are or has been going through this problem. A recall is the best way for ford to handle and take accountability.